Paulo Sotero, director of Woodrow Wilson Center's Brazil Institute, told Al Jazeera the Worker's Party has until September 17 to replace their candidate, though the court gave it 10 days to make the change.

"There is a cutoff date in Brazilian law - September 17 - and the party will have that as a limit for the party to replace their candidate.

"It is a political calculation that Lula and his partners at the Worker's Party will have to make. And they may delay this decision until the very last minute, [or] they may decide tomorrow or day after to replace Lula with … Fernando Haddad, former mayor of Sao Paulo," he said.

Polls show tepid support for the vice presidential running mate Haddad's bid, but the party hopes Lula's popularity could boost the former mayor's hopes.

The electoral court also ruled that Lula should not appear in the Workers Party's television and radio ads campaign until the ticket has been officially altered to remove him.